Top Ten
Best Ab Workouts1.
Staircase Workouts This
is great because stairs are everywhere. You can go to a football field and do
stadium stairs, any building that has stairs like a hotel (most people take the
elevator, so you will not even have many people looking at you while you're working
out), or even the stairs in your own home. For an awesome full body workout, try
mixing stairs sprints with an upper body exercise like pushups or pull-ups. If
done with a high enough intensity, stairs workouts help to create changes throughout
your entire body due to the muscle building and fat burning hormonal response
and metabolism increase that you get through working the biggest muscle groups
in your entire body. 2.
Jumping exercises Squat
jumps, box jumps, lunge jumps, and broad jumps are some of the best ways to incorporate
explosive jumping exercises into your routines. The explosive and powerful nature
of jumping exercises works your leg muscles in an entirely different way than
most normal slow grinding strength training moves. I've even seen a university
study cited once that found squat jumps to elicit the greatest testosterone response
of all exercises studied. That means more muscle and less fat on your entire body,
not just your legs. Try super-setting jumping exercises with upper body exercises
for some really intense workouts.
3. Kettlebell Training You've
probably heard me praise kettlebell training many times before, but I will have
to reiterate that it has been one of the best training methods that I've ever
tried and has taken my physical capabilities to a whole new level. Kettlebells
are an alternative type of free-weight training instead of barbells and dumbbells.
Their unique construction and weight distribution (basically a cannonball with
a handle) allows for a whole different realm of exercises that's available compared
to dumbbells and barbells. Kettlebells
have been typically used for training hard-core athletes, military units, martial
arts competitors, and other tough individuals, but there is no reason that anybody
looking to get stronger, bigger, or more cut can't learn the exercises and benefit
from them. At between $100-$150 per kettlebell, they are definitely not cheap,
but they are well worth the money. 4.
Bodyweight Workouts Try
doing one or two workouts a week at home with just bodyweight based exercises.
These can be great because you can get a high intensity workout done in only 15-30
minutes without having to go to the gym on days that you might not have time for
a trip to the gym. Try alternating bodyweight squats, pushups variations, lunges,
and floor abs exercises continuously for 15-30 minutes. Try
to take very short rest periods or none at all to really amp up the intensity
since this will be a brief workout. If you're more advanced, you can even incorporate
more challenging exercises like handstand pushups, one-arm pushups, and one-legged
squats into your bodyweight training routines. 5.
Ring Training This
type of training basically uses portable gymnastic rings that you can take anywhere
with you. You throw the straps up over any high bar like a pullup bar, the top
of a power rack, or even over a football field goal crossbar. Then you can quickly
adjust the rings to do exercises like ring dips, ring pushups, ring pull-ups,
hanging leg raises, horizontal body rows, L-sits, and more. Dips and pushups on
the rings are my favorites and the rings really make them a hell of a lot more
difficult, while also incorporating your stabilizer muscles to a much greater
degree. The
rings allow your joints to move in a more natural pattern and can help you prevent
or even recover from shoulder injuries. The training rings are one of the best
training devices I've ever bought. Give them a try...I think you'll like them
if you're up for a challenge. 6.
Swimming A
great full body workout that stresses the muscles and joints in a much different
way than most resistance training. Incorporating swimming workouts once or twice
a week into your normal training routines can really enhance your physique. I
recommend trying a "sprint" style swimming workout, which will help
more for building muscle compared with endurance long distance swimming. For
sprint style, swim as hard as you can to the other side of a 25-meter or 50-meter
pool (or sprint swim similar distances in a lake or the ocean if you like to swim
outdoors). Rest enough to catch your breath between sprint swims (about 20-40
seconds). Try to keep the rest intervals fairly short with swim sprints. You can
also mix different strokes (crawl, breaststroke, sidestroke, backstroke, butterfly)
on each swim sprint. I've
found that sprint swimming gives me a great muscle pump (especially in the upper
body), without any soreness the next day as is typical with weight training. This
is because swimming has no eccentric movement (the negative portion of a lift),
which is what causes muscle soreness. Keep in mind that even though swimming works
your muscles well and is a nice alternative workout to mix in once or twice a
week, it does not strengthen your bones. You still need to do regular weight training
to do that. 7.
Sandbag Training This
form of training is a nice variation to mix in with your strength training. It
works your body with an unstable object, which makes muscles that might normally
be neglected get in on the action to perform the movements. I've been mixing some
sandbag training into my routines for over a year now, and I've found it is a
very intense method of training that works your muscles in a different way and
gets you huffing and puffing like crazy. You
can make your own sandbags by filling various sized duffle bags with sand, or
you can use those construction type sandbags that come in several shapes. Sandbag
exercises can be done as squats, cleans, presses, lunges, shouldering, throws
or heaves, carrying up hills, etc. 8.
Mountain Biking As
you may have figured by now, I'm not a proponent of steady pace endurance exercise,
but rather, highly variable intensity exercise that works with bursts of exertion
followed by recovery intervals. Well, mountain biking fits this bill perfectly.
You get the leg pumping exertion during the uphill climbs, while also getting
the adrenaline rush of the downhill acting as your recovery intervals. Mix it
all together and you get a super-fun, high-intensity, leg burning workout that
will melt fat off of your entire body and build awesome legs at the same time. The
climbs can be tough and will challenge you both physically and mentally as you
pump away trying to make it up steep hills without having to resort to getting
off of the bike. But it's such an addicting thrill! 9.
Rock Climbing indoor (or outdoor) This
is yet another fun way to get in a great workout that will also challenge you
both physically and mentally. Indoor rock climbing gyms have starting popping
up all over the place in recent years and will be more accessible than outdoor
rock climbing to most people. Rock climbing is a great workout for your legs,
arms, shoulders, and your entire back. It also really works your grip strength
and forearms like crazy. Whenever I go indoor rock climbing (which is only on
occasion), my forearms are sore for about 2-3 days afterwards. Give it a try if
you've never done it...it may be just what you're looking for to spice up your
fitness routine. 10.
Rope Skipping You
can't beat rope jumping as a great full body exercise. I like to use it as a warm-up
for my weight training workouts. I prefer to use the really cheap "speed"
ropes with a plastic rope instead of a fabric rope. Once you get good, you can
jump rope much faster with the plastic ropes than the fabric ones, which will
allow you to get a more intense workout. And don't mess with the weighted handle
ropes...they'll just slow you down. Your
goal is speed when rope skipping. Try mixing together two legged jumps, one-legged
jumps, arm crossovers, double jumps (rope passes under feet twice for each jump)
to keep things interesting and increase the intensity. Also, try alternating 15-20
second high intensity bursts where you jump as fast as you possibly can, followed
by 15-20 second recovery intervals where you jump slowly to get ready for your
next burst. Keep repeating until you're whooped, which might happen pretty quick! Chet's
Note: Do you want to knock out the extra tire around your waist once and for
all? This article is a good starting point for making the decision, but if you're
serious about losing the weight around your middle, run over to Mike's website
to buy his Truth
About Six Pack Abs Program. Trust
me, you won't be disappointed. | 
